Considered Attack
by SamCyberCat
Summary: Darkness considers his choices of opponents as he arrives on Duel Academia. Juudai or Ryo? Mild Ryo/Fubuki.


Notes - For the gx_100. Set just prior to the Seven Star events in season one.

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The objective of the mission was a painfully simple one: take the keys and open the gate that led to the cards Kagemaru wanted.

Why it had been made to seem like such a hassle was beyond Darkness, especially when the keys were entrusted to a group that mostly consisted of children to guard them. With such an easy selection of opponents it almost seemed pointless that Kagemaru had gone to the effort of putting together the Seven Stars, each member had not been easy to get a hold of.

But regardless, Darkness was willing to go along with this for now. If only giving him a body as a host, this mission would benefit for him. And if it went his way he might even benefit from some Sacred Beasts at the end of it.

And so when it came to choosing who should go to retrieve the keys Darkness went first. He would be the only one that was needed; so getting started sooner would save a lot of time in the long run.

He chose his opponent effortlessly – the one known as Juudai Yuki. This boy had more of a weakness than the others did; he had a close attachment to persons that Darkness considered to be weaker than Juudai himself. This sort of person, people like Juudai, always turned up in the world. And through their attachments to those who were weak dragging down those weak pillars would also drag down the person themselves.

A simple enough method for an easy result. Darkness almost wanted it to be more complicated than it was.

The volcano was the place he felt most comfortable working from, it suited his needs so much and not many people visited active volcanoes. Or at least not usually anyway. That theory didn't last long in an environment where people lived with an active volcano daily. Familiarity is the worse enemy of fear – people aren't scared of something they see so often. That can work either way. Added to the mix that these were teenagers, of the general mindset that putting up tape around somewhere that said 'Do not cross this line' in some format translated to 'Come here for a fun time', and he really didn't have too much privacy during the day at all.

Thankfully the unused Blue Dorm was still more popular with thrill seekers than the volcano was, so Darkness could at least count on being able to stay at the volcano during the night without too many hanging around.

But as his eyes trailed along the path a new visitor was walking he thought that this teenager might not be like the others.

You can tell a lot about a person from the way they walk. The kids who came here for fun were always looking around nervously as they walked, either out of worry they would be caught or the hope that someone was giving them the attention they wanted. This boy did not walk like that. He walked tall; looking confidently in front of him as if he knew that he had every right to be here. That kind of person Darkness knew too, that kind of person had drive.

For whatever reason this boy had to walk the volcano ledges with such confidence he was of no interest to Darkness. At least not until he saw the key the boy was wearing. So he was one of those children chosen by the delusional principal then? At some point Darkness would have to pay attention to him.

He edged the host body forward, getting a closer look at this person. The only notable trait he found was that he was wearing a uniform almost identical to the one that the boy Fubuki had worn before Darkness took him on. Of the times Darkness had seen the students here he knew that the white coloured uniform was not common among the males. That could be read as being that this boy was a good duellist. So he would not be easy to take down.

Even with easy targets Darkness preferred having a strategy planned to take them down, so tackling such a strong duellist early on was probably not advisable.

He noticed the boy's face as the other looked around, piercing the volcano with his harsh stare, as if encouraging something to attack him. If only he knew of Darkness he may not have been so confident in demanding for attack...

And that face had an impact of Darkness's host.

He hadn't seen it coming but for that fraction of a second when the elite student's face was visible Fubuki's heart rate had jumped.

He delved into the boy's mind, looking through his memories to see what could awaken even such a small conscious response when Darkness was supposed to have full control. It did not take long to find memories of this person, through the name of "Ryo" that the host referred to him as. It seemed this person meant a lot to Fubuki.

A weakness was found.

Darkness could use this closeness to break down a barrier in the stronger duellist's defences as he planned to with Juudai. Perhaps he should even strike now while the boy was on his own...

Ryo was not alone for long though, as a small figure came running up to him, a lot more scared of being on the volcano from what his body movements were implying. As the little figure spoke to Ryo for a few moments Darkness came to recognise him to – it was one of the two that Darkness intended to take hostage for his duel against Juudai.

He listened, and heard the child refer to Ryo as his brother. One key holder's brother and another's best friend? Hurting this person would do more to weaken them than he had counted on.

Perhaps he would go through with his original plan after all, choosing Juudai Yuki first and leaving the student Ryo until later. He could cause more damage that way.

So without ever realising it, Ryo made an escape from Darkness.


End file.
